Jacqueline Cochran

Born: 1906

Died: 1980

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: White

no formal education

Field of Study: Aviation; business woman

Institution/Corporation: Northrup Corp

Degrees & Memberships: Member: Honorary Fellow Society of Experimental Test Pilots; Board of Trustees George Washington University

Awards: 6 Harmon Trophies; 1951, named 1 of 25 Outstanding Businesswomen in American, Boston Chamber of Commerce; 1953-54, Woman of the Year in Business, Associated Press; 1951, French Air Medal; Gold Medal, Federation Aeronautique Internationale; 1949, Turk Hava Kurumu s Murassa Brovesi; 1st female to have a permanent display of her achievements at the USAF Academy; 1964, Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement; 1965, San Diego Air & Space Museum s International Air & Space Hall of Fame; 1971, National Aviation Hall of Fame; 1985, crater on Venus named after her by International Astronomical Union; 1992, Florida Women s Hall of Fame; 1993, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America; 1993, National Women s Hall of Fame; 1996, USPS issued a 50-cent stamp honoring her winning the Bendix Trophy; 2002, Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame; 2006, Lancaster, California Aerospace Walk of Honor; Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport named after her in Riverside County, California; Military Awards: 1945, Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), Distinguished Flying Cross, 1947-51,1962,1964; US Air Force Command Pilot Wings, Women Airforce Service Pilots Badge, Legion of Merit, American Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with bronze hour glass, Defence Medal (UK)

Achievements: 1st woman to: break the sound barrier, compete in a Bendix race, 1941-fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean, woman civilian to receive the DSM, non-Japanese woman to enter Japan after WWII, land & take off from an aircraft carrier, fly a jet aircraft on a transatlantic flight, make a blind (instrument) landing, fly a fixed-wing jet aircraft across the Atlantic, fly above 20000 feet with an oxygen mask, awarded the Gold Medal from Federation Aeronautique Internationale,; with Nancy Love was the wartime head of Woman Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) & achieved the rank of colonel before retiring; initially sponsored the Mercury 13 women astronaut program; had a cosmetic business; formulated a moisturizer to combat the effects of dry skin from high altitude flying; 1937, set a new woman s speed record; president of the Ninety-Niners 1941-43; before the US entered WWII worked for British Air Transport Auxilliary (ATA) & attained the rank of Flight Captain (the equivalent of Major in USAF); 1948, joined USAF Reserve; only female president of Federation Aeronautique Internationale 1958-61; flew the Goodyear Blimp in the early 1960s; at the time of her death, no female held more speed, distance or altitude records in aviation history, many of her records still stand